STATELINE, Nev. - Almost as long as California and Nevada have shared Lake Tahoe's pricey shoreline, the two states have harbored competing visions of how best to prosper from the region's stunning natural beauty while preserving the lake's deep-azure color and remarkable clarity. At times, the disputes have flared into what Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, describes as a "red-hot crucible for debate and dissonance. " But even with that prickly history, the dispute that ended last week with a vote in the California Assembly stands out as contentious.

Sometimes the town of Sparks, Nev., located just outside Reno in the state's northern reaches, still seems like a Wild West holdout featuring the ghosts of all those shoot-'em-up cowboys. Well, Sparks lived up to its old gun-slinging ways this week, but this time with a dash of Barney Fife panache straight out of Mayberry: a movie-goer accidentally shot himself in the buttocks the other night during a showing of the movie"The Bourne Legacy. " Police say a 56-year-old man, permitted to legally carry a concealed weapon, shifted in his seat and a handgun dropped from his pocket.

In Elko poets gather to dodge Nevada chill To read, hold forth and blather As versifiers will. This January hoedown joins horsemen and their kin to artists who aren't highbrow. One year I will sneak in. In other words, the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nev., is staging its 30th Cowboy Poetry Gathering Jan. 27-Feb. 1, 2014. The programming honors horsemen Bill and Tom Dorrance.

Scorpion hunting is something you shouldn't do on your own. For one thing, it's dangerous. For another, you could learn a lot more from naturalists at two Nevada wildlife refuges who will be taking visitors to see the desert critters this month. Hikes take place Saturday at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo and Sept. 14 at Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Moapa. Although you've probably never heard of these remote wildlife refuges, they're less than a two-hour drive from Las Vegas.

Poker fanatics in Nevada now have an online play-from-home option to gamble. The first legal online poker website launched Tuesday in the Silver State, home to the casino city of Las Vegas. The site, UltimatePoker.com , went up just two months after the cash-strapped state legalized online poker. PHOTOS: The strangest business sponsorships Nevada had been racing to beat New Jersey, which also legalized online gambling, in implementing wagering websites.

Brian Polian, Nevada's first-year head coach, has made the rounds as an assistant coach, from Buffalo to South Bend to College Station. He seems to have saved up a lot to say. Polian's Wolf Pack plays UCLA on Saturday and he covered a variety of subjects with the media Tuesday. With the smoke from wild fires hovering over Reno the past week, Polian said, “Who could imagine that someone from Reno would be dying to get to Los Angeles to improve air quality.” [Insert rim shot]

O.J. Simpson, the former football superstar who has become just as well-known for his twists and turns through the criminal justice system, said he regrets the crime that put him into a Nevada jail cell. Speaking to Nevada parole officials from prison Thursday, Simpson, 66, said he's been a model prisoner and asked for leniency. Parole officials are expected to rule on the request by next week, spokesman David Smith told the Los Angeles Times. Simpson has been at Lovelock Correction Center, about 90 miles from Reno, since 2008, when he was sentenced to up to 33 years on a variety of charges stemming from what he said was an attempt to regain his sports memorabilia from dealers.

Living on a golf course is supposed to be a good thing. But it seems that someone forgot to inform a Nevada man that it comes with the occasional errant shot in your backyard. Jeff Fleming of Reno has pleaded guilty to battery with a deadly weapon after shooting a golfer whose wayward ball shattered a window at his home beside the Lakeridge Golf Course last year. The 53-year-old Fleming became so enraged that he ran onto the course with a shotgun and fired a single round.

Officials in Nevada's isolated Pershing County want to make it perfectly clear: When it comes to the wild-and-wacky Burning Man festival held each year in their midst, they're not going to get burned financially. Not even close. The want to increase their bill for law enforcement and security for the Labor Day weekend bacchanal in the Black Rock Desert, on land overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. So far, state legislators aren't buying any price increase plans. A Nevada legislative panel this week narrowly approved a bill to prevent the sprawling county (population 6,734)

UCLA opens against Nevada at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. The Bruins hope their season ends there too - perhaps in the Rose Bowl game. Staff writer Chris Foster examines the story lines: Under the gun The Bruins will see some version of the pistol offense, a scheme that flopped in Westwood for two seasons. Nevada averaged 514.9 yards per game last season, ranking the Wolf Pack eighth nationally. Quarterback Cody Fajardo threw for 2,786 yards and gained another 1,121 rushing.